From Shadow to Light - Book Ten

Ch. 28- Prey & Predator

"From the base of her neck to the arch of her eyelids, her beauty made a slave of me."

***

I stalked him like a predator and he was prey, walking slowly around him. Erebus followed my every movement as I placed my arms behind my back. Around us, my Gods protecting me and his shadows were doing the same for him. I can feel Amias close beside the shield, as well as my friends and family who were all holding it in place. "I do wonder if you will be strong enough to hurt me, bastard God. Now is your chance to make a choice whether you will slit my throat or take me away to your shadow realm forever."

"What if I want both?" he inquired, raising a brow.

"You cannot have both. Kill me, love me. It is rather tiring to guess what you will choose and so does everyone else." I sighed as I twirled my hair between my fingers, sparkles of sunlight falling out as I did. This day was months in the making and now it's here, my eyes gazing back at the notorious God of Darkness. We circled around each other like common enemies, no longer lovers...if we ever were in the first place. Erebus, the bastard god that was trapped for centuries by his brother and was freed because of me. It was the connection that was drawn to him in the first place, my sunlight and his darkness attracted each other and it was beyond our control. Beyond any powerful thing in the universe. "If you think for one second you can stop me, you are wrong just like all those other times when you thought you had any sort of power over me."

"I can certainly try, Lianna," Erebus said. He raised his head like a King, clenching his knuckles tighter by his side. My lips tilted to the side as I realized exactly what he was doing. Darkness swarmed over the shield my family created to protect me, but I caught him before he could tear it down. Sunlight burned the darkness away without a second thought as it buzzed for more violence and destruction. I ignored it again as Erebus let out a snarl of frustration. "Tell me what your Kingdom will think when they find out everything you did to stop me. Are you going to confess that you love me, despite the hatred in your eyes? Does your immortal Kingdom, your family, friends and all these other lowly Gods know how you really feel in your heart? Or when this is all over, are you going to lie again. Deceive your way to make them like you again? I know you."

"No you don't," I argued. "No one does."

"Then tell me I am wrong about everything. Tell me you care more about what they think about you than you care to admit. Your so-called people do not see you as a person, but rather a gift they can use until it dimmed down and broken. Lianna, the perfect little sunshine that saved her little Kingdom when she was born but grew up to be a cunning, manipulative bitch that caused everyone pain and torment."

"Oh, you mean the little sunshine that was prophesied to rule over every single God in the universe, including you?" I asked sarcastically, then laughed. Deep in my bones, my sunlight was building and building and it was getting difficult to hold it back any longer. It wanted out of its cage to destroy everything in its path. "Do I look like a girl that cares what other people think? My family has done a lot worse than I have, you know. The great Sebastian Breevort abandoned Ambrosia for years. Elora killed many of our kind by ripping their heads off. Oh, and don't let me forget what my siblings did in the past. We are a flawed, dysfunctional family that are known to be merciless and at times, selfish. How can we not when we hold so much power over others? You're right about one thing, Erebus."

"And what is that?"

"I am a cunning, manipulative, bitch." I replied before I took a deep breath and let out everything I was holding inside for weeks. All the sunlight in my veins swarmed out like a tidal storm as I directed it toward Erebus, but he was quick to defend himself. He held up two hands as his darkness clashed with my sunlight in a full on battle, my feet digging into the snow to keep me balanced. I was burning but that did not stop me. In fact, the heat on my skin wanted me to keep going until he was nothing but a pile of ash. I did not back away as the shield lowered around us and instead focused on the power wanting to strike me. For a second, Erebus was not looking at me but at the creatures creeping close behind me. I ducked at the same time the shadows were ready to attack, his darkness slicing their throats in one swift moment.

I gazed from the corpses around me then finally to Erebus, who was seconds away from striking me again. He saw the way I was still burning like I was made from the sun itself but held the hatred in his expression as though it was his only armor. His shield. Darkness brimmed on his fingertips again but he did not have time to attack for I sent him flying across the field with a swift of my hand. Everyone fighting beside me gave me room as I walked toward Erebus with a scowl on my face, ready to kill him once and for all. He was breathing heavily as he was crouched on the ground, tilting his gaze up to look at me. "There she is. The Goddess I fell in love with."

I stood a few inches in front of him as heat burned his skin slightly. Oh, to have a God on his knees. "Nothing matters now. This is the end of our story, Erebus." He smiled cockily like he could not help but look at me like I was the most beautiful woman in the world, even now. Like I was his to claim. It was too late to do anything but fight for my life as five of his shadow creatures leaped on me and bit into my flesh, pieces of golden blood sliding down at a rapid pace. I let out a scream unlike any other, which could be heard across every single world and universe. Tears brimmed my eyes as they kept gnawing and slicing through my skin, my legs wobbling until I finally collapsed to my knees.

I was supposed to survive.

Win.

Everything was blurry now.